matd

What do you think is the better option? Pricing a one-way from LAX to LHR by myself in April, the price is nearly the same.

I'm 6'4", so I'm not sure the SkyCouch would be as comfortable to me as it would be for someone shorter. However, it's always nice to be horizontal if trying to sleep. But, the new Premium Economy just looks so amazing... it looks like it would be a nice place to spend 10 hours.

What would you choose, given the option?

Janec

I personally would choose Premium Economy ^
Good food, service, more room, less noise............ better still if you can stretch to BP then you would be blown away, just great!

birder

Same here. Premium economy is much better, and I'd worry that I'd be pressured into giving up my two empty seats for some reason.

trooper

Wee....eeeell...

I too am looking forward to the new Y+ (and am booked AKL-LAX rtn in Feb 11) BUT I think I'll reserve judgement until then - or at least until a TR appears here from one of the earlybirds to try it...

Hoping to be impresed.. but just being cautious...

SFO_FT

For me, a flat bed trumps all other items.

kiwigirl2

We were faced with the same dilemma.

Decided on the new PE. It looks awesome so we decided to give it a try. Hopefully it lives up to our expectations.

We did think twice though about giving up the ability to lie flat and sleep. We have upgraded to business going over. Hopefully the new PE will be a close second to business. Cross fingers. Even thought about flying home business too, but really keen to check out the new PE, so check back late Jan and I'll let you know how we got on

Kiwi Flyer

Premium economy does not give a flat bed. Skycouch gives a small flat bench, not a full bed.

Personally I'd prefer premium economy - better food & drink, more legroom (but without a lie flat option), cheaper supported upgrades to business (and slightly higher than zero chance of op-up to business), quieter cabin, more airbucks/miles, etc.

fly747first

Completely agree!

ANZ787900

Definitely Premium Economy from my point of view. I hope to be able to give you a better idea in mid Jan after I fly in it myself. But regardless, I'm 1.7m and my feet can just reach into the aisle so I'd hate to imagine anyone taller than me trying to be comfortable in a skycouch. Don't forget that it's not guaranteed either - if the plane's full, you won't get the skycouch!

The Y+ offering of NZ's is superb. All the things said above are true - better food and drink offerings, quieter cabin, noise cancelling headsets (although Bose ones are better) etc etc. The middle seats face the aisle and theoretically you could position yourself to be able to stick your feet into the aisle.. Not too sure if someone would tell you to move your feet or not though!

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

I would go for the skycouch.

Being able to lie flat is priceless about 4 hours into a long haul flight. You can't do that in premium economy.

The skycouch may be 'short' but you can always sleep on your side or bend your legs and at least sleep horizontal.

I'm almost the same height as you and for me the couple of times I've had the luxury of an empty plane and three economy seats has always given a better experience than a premium economy or sloped business class seat.

I would just make sure when you book the seats you do it through the airline direct (or an agent). There is a special code which they assign for the extra seat(s) to ensure that they don't get released or get cancelled because they are seen as a duplicate booking or )at the airport) as a no-show. Most airlines have a designator such as 'xst' (for extra seat) which sits in the booking alongside your name.

mad_atta

Are you sure that's correct? I thought that you pay for a skycouch, you get it confirmed. That would substantially reduce the appeal if it's on an unconfirmed basis - though as a tall person myself, I doubt the skycouch would be at all comfortable, as I'd either be scrunched right up or having every passing person bash into my feet. Though I guess I should try it before I write it off completely...

Don't forget the current Y seats are wider than the new ones which will combine to become the skycouch.

Tripwarriors

To get confirmed with a skycouch, you have to pay for 2.5 seats (book two seats plus the third is price at 50%). So it only makes sense if you are two travelling that don't mind cuddling up.

I'm wondering how many people will really pay the extra but instead hope to game their way on to the seats.

ANZ787900

Sorry, I can't find anything to back myself up with. But that was surely going to be the case when the idea first came up - that the 3rd seat was only going to become an option if there was room. Regardless, I don't see myself as an individual wanting to get a skycouch over the comfort of Premium Economy.

Hubbabridge

Premium economy definitely

birder

I think that's the idea. However, at least one person has reported here in the forum that they saw someone who had paid for Works Deluxe (with an empty seat next to them) suddenly have the empty seat filled by a person because the flight was overly full. There was speculation about whether the people who had booked WD were even compensated for the loss of the empty seat.

Personally, I would not trust that I would get a whole row to myself if the flight ended up completely full -- even if I paid for the skycouch.